Planning and new building in Birdham
Figures last changed 22 October 2026. House prices for Birdham are on the main Birdham page.
On this page: What is being built near Birdham? · Can I extend or alter a home in Birdham?
What is being built near Birdham?
Land Registry has recorded no sales of newly built homes in Birdham between January 2022 and August 2026. New estates take several months to appear in its records, and their new postcodes longer, so homes finished this year may not show yet. Chichester District Council's brownfield land register (last updated December 2024) lists no site within 500 metres of its postcodes; it covers land that has been built on before, not fields. Where new homes go is set by Chichester District Council's local plan, the Local Plan 2021 to 2039, adopted in August 2025; a new one is being prepared.
Source: HM Land Registry Price Paid Data · Brownfield land registers (planning.data.gov.uk) · Local plans (planning.data.gov.uk) · How to check a new estate's drainage.
What locals say
- Plenty of new houses have gone up in the last 10 to 15 years, and the records agree. Land Registry logged 57 new-build sales between 2013 and 2020, on Tawny Close, Rowan Close and Old Common Close.
Can I extend or alter a home in Birdham?
Within tighter limits than in much of England: 45 of Birdham's 58 postcodes are in the Somerley conservation area or Chichester Harbour National Landscape, where homeowners can do less without planning permission. Of those, the Somerley conservation area covers one and the National Landscape 44. There, an extension to the side, a back extension of more than one storey, a loft extension that adds to the roof and cladding the outside all need planning permission. Historic England lists 12 buildings within 100 metres of a Birdham postcode, among them the grade I Parish Church of St James; any work that changes a listed building's character, inside or out, needs listed building consent. Chichester District Council has not published its Article 4 directions or its tree preservation orders to the government's planning data service, so check with it before starting work. In a conservation area, cutting down or pruning a tree above a small size needs six weeks' notice to the council. Flats and maisonettes have no householder permitted development rights. Whether a particular job needs permission depends on the home: the council can say, and a lawful development certificate puts it in writing.
Source: Conservation areas (planning.data.gov.uk, Historic England and councils) · National Landscapes (planning.data.gov.uk, Natural England) · Listed buildings (planning.data.gov.uk, Historic England) · Permitted development rights for householders: technical guidance (GOV.UK).
Figures cover 58 postcodes in Birdham. How these figures are made.